Changing Minds
by Silvertongue15
Summary: Foaly discovers an Opal Koboi device left over after the goblin rebellions and shows it the others. Artemis tries to repair it and ends up accidently switching bodies with Holly.
1. The Unknown Weapon

AN: I do not own any of these characters, it all belongs to Eion Colfer. This is just for fun

* * *

Foaly gathered the equipment, getting ready for the others to arrive. He had laid most of it out on the table when Captain Holly Short came into his lab.

She looked at all the stuff on the table and then said, "What's that?"

"Stuff." Foaly replied, continuing to lay out the strange technology.

Holly rolled her eyes and then said, "More specifically?"

"You'll find out." Was all Foaly said.

Holly groaned and then sat down in the nearest chair. She studied all the stuff on the table and realized she'd never seen anything like most of the stuff before. She could tell what some of the stuff did, but others she had no idea.

Julius Root walked in next, fungus cigar lit and stuck in his mouth, he puffed on it happily. He looked at all the apparatus and groaned, Foaly was now going to lecture them on all this equipment.

Foaly looked up and saw Root's expression, "What, too complicated for you?"

"Don't annoy me Foaly, not today, not with the Fowl boy coming." Root commanded.

Foaly held up his hands innocently, but grinned just the same.

A moment later Artemis Fowl and his large bodyguard and friend Butler was escorted into the room by a terrified looking elf. Artemis smiled one of his vampire like smiles at the elf, who upon seeing this scampered off as fast as he could. Artemis chuckled and then came in and sat down.

Butler struggled to fit through the low doorway and then frowned when he saw the small chairs. He thus decided to sit on the floor.

Foaly continued to arrange the equipment without saying a word causing Commander Root to become redder and redder until he finally bellowed, "Foaly, damn it, why are we here!"

"Keep your wings on Commander; I was just getting to that." Foaly soothed.

"Yeah, taking a bloody good time getting to it." Commander Root commented.

Foaly rolled his eyes and then said, "Fine, I'll start. Alight, do you all see the apparatus before you?"

Root was about to yell something obscene when Holly stepped in, "Yes Foaly, we're not blind, we do see it."

Foaly frowned and said, "If I'm not going to get any respect, you might as well leave."

Commander Root stood up, "Alright then, let's go everyone."

Foaly knowing it was all a ploy, but couldn't stand it anyway said, "No, just sit down, I'll explain. I'm so underappreciated."

"Yes, yes, now let's get on with it." Commander Root said impatiently.

"Fine. The apparatus you see before you is, besides my own creations, top of the line." Foaly said.

"I assume these are some of the devices and what not that you retrieved after you searched Opal Koboi's labs, am I correct?" Artemis asked, though he pretty much new the answer.

Foaly pouted, "I was getting to that."

"Quit whining pony boy and get on with it." Commander Root said.

Foaly pouted even more and then continued, "Yes, Artemis, you are correct. This equipment was designed and built by Opal."

"So, why are we here?" Holly asked.

"I was going to brief you on the equipment I recovered." Foaly said, "Some of this stuff, I hate to say, and I do mean really hate, I've never seen before."

Holly saw a nasty looking gun, with a large barrel and many strange buttons on it, she pointed to it, "What's that?"

"A gun Holly." Foaly replied condescendingly.

Holly glared at him and then said, "I know that, I meant what does it do?"

"It shoots."  
"Foaly." She growled.

"It shoots…stuff."

"You don't know what it does." Holly said.

"Sure I do." Foaly replied.

"Fine then, what does it do?" She asked.

"It…well…it fires a…the beam comes out…and….oh fine…I have no idea what it does. It seems to be a prototype, a prototype that doesn't work I might add." Foaly said.

Artemis studied the gun. He stood up and walked over and looked at the ripped open side of the weapon.

"It appears to me to have to do with brain and neurons. Perhaps a deneuronizer?" He said, smiling slightly.

"A what?" Commander Root asked.

"Deneuronizer, which isn't exactly a word, but more, describes what this device can do." Artemis explained.

"Which is?" Commander Root asked, turning redder.

"Kills the brain cells." Foaly finished and Artemis nodded.


	2. Not His Brightest Idea

"So, it destroys brain cells. So it kills people. Why would you need to kill brain cells when a laser through the chest on high does it perfectly fine?" Commander Root asked.

Artemis thought for a moment, "Well, perhaps it does not destroy all the brain cells at once. Perhaps it destroys a certain amount, depending upon what level you set it too."

"And how is that helpful?" Root asked.

"It would make people dumber." Foaly said, "She was going to try and make herself the smartest creature on earth."

Artemis nodded, "Most likely."

Commander Root shook his head, "Well, it doesn't work anyway, so you might as well scrap that thing. And Foaly I don't ever want to see plans or blueprints or even hear about this thing again. That could be dangerous."

"Yeah, I mean, how much dumber can you get?" Foaly mumbled.

Commander Root stood up abruptly and growled at Foaly, "What was that pony boy? Did you just call me dumb? Because if you did, I might just have to cut your budget in half for next year."

"What, me call you dumb, ridiculous." Foaly said quickly.

"That's what I thought." Root said.

Artemis studied the gun even more and then said, "It isn't broken beyond repair." He leaned over and began fiddling with it, "Some of the wires are just disconnected."

"Artemis, it probably isn't a good idea to be playing with that." Butler said.

"Don't worry Butler, I promise I will be extremely careful." Artemis replied.

"Mud boy, I just told Foaly to scrap that. Don't try and fix the damn thing." Commander Root said.

"I almost have it; it will only be a moment." Artemis replied, ignoring the Commander.

"Mud boy, are you listening to me?" Commander Root asked unnecessarily.

"No Commander, I am not really listening to you." Artemis said, "Besides, I am almost finished with it."

Then, suddenly there was a sudden flash of light, and Artemis began to shake violently, he was being electrocuted. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape, but he couldn't free himself from the potentially deadly voltage. Butler rose to his feet in an instant, but Holly was closer and quicker.

She reached for Artemis's hands, brushing against the wire that Artemis had his hands on. She too began to shake uncontrollably, her eyes rolling around wildly, her head bucking.

Butler grabbed both of them by the nape of the neck and pulled them away. He too was briefly electrocuted and thus let go of them. The two slammed into the wall behind and slumped down, unconscious. Butler quickly checked their pulse, hoping for the best, which he got because they were both, thankfully alive.

Foaly looked horrified and then asked, "Are they…"

"Their alive." Butler answered and relief seemed to wash through the room.

Then Commander Root stood up and walked over to Butler, "Your charge almost got my officer killed!" He yelled, which was very brave since Butler was probably more than twice his size.

Butler frowned and then said, "Almost, but she isn't dead."

"Yes, but who knows what kind of damage he may have caused!" Root bellowed.

"I'm sure her magic will fix her up fine." Butler replied and then looked down. Sure enough the blue sparks of magic were already winding there way down Holly's body and onto her burnt hand. They were also sparkling around her heart and head.

Holly moaned. As soon as she woke up she realized that she was in a lot of pain, which meant her magic wasn't working, or she used it all up. She wondered how badly injured she was and was almost too afraid to find out. She felt a tingling sensation running through her body and not the nice magic curing you kind, the kind you get after you're electrocuted.

That was it; she had been electrocuted, by the gun Artemis had been trying to fix. Artemis, if she could have shaken her head, she would have. He would never learn.

Her heart felt funny, it was beating way too fast, and it almost hurt. A side effect of having several hundred volts of electricity run through you. Her head hurt as well, which was probably caused by Butler throwing her into the wall.

She moaned again and slowly opened her eyes. Everything was very bright, but she could make out a large shadow hovering over her, Butler. She looked up and saw him on his knees, bending over. He was waving his hand in front of her eyes. She followed the hand for a moment before she tried to speak. All that came out was a gurgling, rasping noise.

Butler frowned and said, "Do not speak, conserve your energy. You've just had a bad shock, literally."

Holly nodded and just lay there as Butler gently lifted her onto the lab table. It was cold, which was strange because she shouldn't have been able to feel cold through her LEP jumpsuit.

"Just nod yes or no to answer the questions." Butler said and she nodded.

"Do you have pain in your chest?" Butler asked.

Holly thought for a moment and then nodded, she did.

"Do you feel a tingling sensation?"

She nodded again.

"Can you move?" Butler asked.

She tried to move, but her body suddenly felt very heavy, she shook her head.

"Ok, just try and relax. Breadth in and out. The sensations should go away soon, but if you try and move it'll take longer." Butler said firmly and then turned away. Holly breathed in and out; it was difficult and slightly painful.

She heard someone moan and suddenly start gasping. She assumed it was Artemis awakening from his stupor.

"She's awakening." Commander Root said.

Holly found that odd, had he seen her awake already?

Butler began speaking to Artemis, "Can you hear me?"

There was a gurgling noise, which Holly presumed was Artemis trying to answer.

"Don't speak." Butler said and Artemis didn't try again.

"Just nod to answer my questions, does your chest hurt?" Butler asked. Holly tried to turn her head, but she couldn't she had to settle for looking sideways, but she couldn't see Artemis.

"Do you have a tingling sensation?" Butler asked, Artemis answered.

"Can you move?" Butler asked.

Artemis answered and then there was a shuffling noise as he probably got to his feet. Holly suddenly saw Butler lunge forward as if catching something, Artemis must have fallen over.

"The magic is still running through her, she'll be weak for awhile." Commander Root said.

Holly frowned, or she would have frowned. The magic wasn't running through her at all, what did Commander Root mean? She was so confused and she was also in a lot of pain and very, very tired. She closed her eyes and slipped back into unconsciousness.


	3. A Change of Face

Artemis was in a lot of pain, more than he had ever been in before

Artemis was in a lot of pain, more than he had ever been in before. The only thing he could think of doing was moaning. So he did. Not the most intellectual sound, but it seemed to suit what kind of agony he was in.

Why had he done such a brainless thing, trying to repair a severely broken weapon, created by an insane pixie? It was just unintelligent is what it was. And he regretted even trying to do it now.

His heart was racing and his head hurt, but less than it had just a moment before. His hand hurt as well, which was probably because of the burns from the electricity. But wait, it was the wrong hand. He had stuck his left hand in, but his right hand hurt. Or had it been his right hand? Maybe his brain was addled because of the electric current that had previously run through him.

He tried to open his eyes when he heard someone say, "She's awakening." It sounded like Commander Root, which meant Holly was alright. He had been worried she had been severely hurt or killed, but she was alive, which was good.

Artemis tried opening his eyes again and this time succeeded. He looked up to see Butler's enormous face. Good old Butler, saving his life again. How did Butler put up with him?

Butler began speaking to Artemis, worry in his eyes, "Can you hear me?"

Artemis opened his mouth which felt incredibly dry and tried to say something, all the came was a strange rasping noise that was definitely not speech. He was about to try again when Butler said, "Don't speak."

Artemis complied. Butler was commanding him to do something, which meant he should listen. He didn't try to speak again.

"Just nod to answer my questions, does your chest hurt?" Butler asked. Artemis realized his chest hurt, but no very much, and his heart rate was slowly slowing back to normal. He seemed like he was going to be alright, which was wrong, he should have been in much more pain. Something was wrong here.

He turned to Butler and shook his head as the ache in his chest slowly dissipated. Butler nodded and then asked, "Do you have a tingling sensation?"

Artemis started to become more aware of his body; he did feel a strange sensation, almost like a tickling sensation all over his body. It wasn't painful, it almost felt good. Which most likely meant it was bad. He nodded.

"Can you move?" Butler asked.

Artemis decided to try something. He moved his arms, which felt heavier than normal, but not too heavy to lift them. He slowly got to his feet, he felt his knees knocking together and his legs were shaking with the strain. Suddenly he pitched forward, his face heading towards the ground, when Butler caught him. Artemis looked up at Butler; he seemed, taller, bigger perhaps. His hands looked even more enormous than they usually did.

But this had to be an optical illusion, or his tired mind playing tricks on him, it had to be that, right?

The magic is still running through her, she'll be weak for awhile." Commander Root said, as if in response to him falling over. But no, he had to be talking to Holly. He had to be. Was he? Oh no, Artemis thought, this can't be good, this can't be happening. He tried to look at his body, but he felt stiff and Butler's huge hands were preventing him from moving.

He suddenly felt very tired, he needed to sleep. He closed his eyes and slumped over on Butler, unconscious once again.

Holly awoke once again, still lying on the table. Butler was looking at her again, concern and worry in his eyes and displayed across his face, which was odd for Butler, especially directed at her.

She tried to move and found it easier than before. Her heart rate had gone back to normal and her breathing came without difficulty. Her limbs weren't as heavy, though there was still the remnants of that tingling sensation running through her.

Butler helped her off the table and onto her feet. Holly looked down at her feet and her eyes widened. She wasn't wearing the shoes she had been this morning. They were nicer, black and shiny, and much more comfortable. Also, her feet were farther away than normal. Something wasn't right.

She looked up at Butler, he was still humongous, a giant, but he seemed to be…shorter than normal. Something was definitely wrong. She heard a moan from behind him, a high pitched moan, a familiar moan.

She shoved Butler aside, well not really, she more pushed on him and he moved aside. She saw someone lying on the ground behind him, she saw herself lying on the ground behind him. The only thing she could think of doing was screaming. So she did.

Butler rushed over and knelt down, he grabbed her face and made her look at him, and then he said, "Artemis, Artemis, speak to me, are you alright? Stop screaming please, are you alright?"

Holly looked at Butler confused, but she stopped screaming, "What?" She asked and she heard Artemis's voice say, "What?"

"Artemis, are you alright." Butler asked.

"Art…Art…did you just call me Artemis?" She asked.

"Yes, Artemis I did. Don't you remember who you are?" Butler asked, his eyes widening, his face almost panicked, well at least for Butler. Commander Root came over, curious and looked up at her. She turned her head to Commander Root, she was taller than him by several feet.

She felt like feinting, but that wasn't an option, she was a LEP officer, or she thought she was. She looked at her body lying on the ground and felt her breadth quicken. Suddenly she was shaken violently by Butler.

"Artemis, I'm sorry, but speak to me. Tell me you know who you are. Tell me you're Artemis." Butler pleaded.

She turned to look at Butler, straight in the eye and said, "I'm sorry Butler, I can't do that. You see, I'm not Artemis, I'm Holly."

Butler's eyes widened even more and he let go of her arms. He stared at her thoroughly for a few minutes then turned to Commander Root whose mouth was agape and had let his cigar fall to the ground.

Commander Root walked in front of her and looked up into her eyes, he glared at her, eyes seeming to pierce into her very core, then his eyes widened, almost enough to pop out of their head.

"D'Arvit!" He roared.

"Commander, what's the matter?" She asked.

"You are Holly! I can tell by that defiant look in your eye, that spark. Not that Artemis doesn't have one of those, but yours is unique if you know what I mean." Commander Root said.

"I told you I was Holly, what did you think I was lying?" She asked.

"Well, yeah." He said.

"Damn mud boy, he did this. We switched bodies." Holly said angrily.

Commander Root raised an eyebrow and then chuckled.

Holly snapped her head around to glare at him, "What?"

"Well, it's just funny to hear a human say mud boy, since technically you are one." Commander Root said.

"I am not technically anything. I am Captain Holly Short, first female recon officer of the Lower Elements Police and I am an elf!" She said insolently.

"In your head you are, but your body isn't." Commander Root said.

"I am going to kill Artemis." She said.

And on that note, Artemis in Holly's body groaned. His eyes flickered open and he looked upward. He looked up to see his own body and face glaring down at him. Then his own arm pulled back and his own hand made a fist. Then his own body punched him in the face.


	4. Explanation of Sorts

He cried out in pain and after his vision returned to order looked up again, "Ow, that hurt." He said rubbing his nose and looking at himself. Then he sighed, stood up and said, "There are only two reasons why I would be looking at myself, one this is a clone or two, Captain Short and I have switched bodies. Since this Artemis is taller, I assumed I am now in Captain Short's body." He said all this while he listened to Holly's voice.

"You bet your annoying behind I'm in your body and it's all your fault!" His body shouted at him, besides the voice thoroughly sounding like Captain Short.

"I have a question, how did this happen?" Commander Root asked.

"Its quite simple Commander, you see the device created by Opal was not a deneuronizer, it was a…you could call it a body swapper if you must. I assume Opal was making backup plans, just in case her and Cudgeon's little scheme didn't work. I think she was going to switch out of her body as a last resort, but she was captured before she was able to complete the swap with someone else. Unfortunately when I was trying to repair the damage made by Foaly or someone else retrieving the device, I wasn't electrocuted, because whatever powered the thing wasn't electricity. I assume the power source was actually the beam itself. Thus, the beam was hitting me through one of the wires. Captain Short, trying to save my life, also was affected by the beam, causing our neurons to be switched and thus our consciousnesses." Artemis told all of them.

"Oh." Was all Commander Root said.

"It's quite a predicament, but fascinating none the less." Artemis said.

"Fascinating! Fascinating! Oh, I'll show you fascinating." Holly shouted through his body, raising her fist again.

Butler grabbed her arm and said, "I have to protect both of you now since Artemis's mind is in your body and you are in Artemis's body. I cannot allow you to harm Artemis in any way and that includes your body right now."

Holly frowned and then lowered her arm, "Fine."

Just as soon as she did Foaly came galloping in, medics scampering after him a few seconds later.

"I have the medics! I have the medics!" Foaly shouted.

"About time." Commander Root commented.

" They were playing stinkworm poker and they had their communicators off." He told everyone and then glaring at the three warlocks.

"We were busy." One of them said huffy.

"Yeah, you were busy losing." Another one said, grinning.

"I was not losing, I was just putting your guard down before I could come in and collect the entire pot." The first one replied.

"Yeah, sure, that's why you lost every hand." The third one said.

The first one pouted and was about to say something when Root bellowed, "Will you shut up!"

"Sorry Commander." They said in unison.

Foaly looked around and saw, who he thought was Holly, was on her feet. He ran over and scooped her up into his arms.

"Oh Holly, I thought you were dead!" He shouted.

Holly made a grunting noise associated with loss of oxygen.

Artemis behind him said, "Foaly, I didn't know you cared so much."

Foaly let Holly drop to the ground where she gasped for air. Then he whirled around to face Artemis, anger on his face.

"Oh, I don't care much about you mud boy. You, once again, almost got Holly here killed." He said.

Artemis's eyes widened as if he had never been talked to in such a way before and then said, "Foaly I'm…"

Butler cut Artemis or actually Holly off and said, "Commander, we're sorry, but we need to ask the medics to leave at this moment. As you can see, everyone here is…fine, but we have some private business to discuss. Business that should not reach the ears of the general public."

Foaly looked at Butler confused and Commander Root paused for only a moment until he said, "Yes, you're right. Medics, out, get out!"

The medics looked annoyed and offended, but they left just the same, most likely to return to their poker game.

Foaly turned to the Commander and then asked, "What was all that about?"

The Commander looked at Artemis and said, "Maybe you should explain."

"Not me, Artemis is the one who knows the exact details. I'm just the victim." Artemis said.

Foaly was now completely confused, "Wait, what?"

Holly stood up after regaining her breadth and then looked at Foaly, there was something in her eyes that hadn't been there before, something…bad.

"Quite simply Foaly, the device that I was fooling around with was not deneuronizer, it was a body swapper. I believe that Opal was going to use it for her escape if necessary, but that's another story. Anyway, when I was trying to repair it I was hit by the beam and so was Captain Short. Therefore our consciousnesses were switched, which is to say our minds." Holly said, sounding a lot like Artemis.

Foaly's mouth opened wide, but no sound came out for several moments, then he said, "So…you swapped bodies. So you're Artemis." He then pointed to Holly's body.

"Yes, that is correct." Artemis in Holly said.

Foaly turned to Artemis's body and said, "And you're Holly."

Holly nodded and said, "Yeah, unfortunately."

Foaly looked at the two of them wide eyed for several moments and then burst out laughing.


	5. Stuck for Now

Holly made a disgusted noise and shouted, "What's so funny Foaly?"

"You…you…you…swapped…with…the…the mud boy." He said between breathes as he tried to get air.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed." Holly hissed, "But I still don't see how it's funny."

"Oh, common Holly, it's hilarious." Foaly said, finally calming down.

Holly walked over, now tall enough to be eye to eye with Foaly and glared at him,

"Do you still think it's hilarious?" She said threateningly, and matched with Artemis's cold voice and almost vampire like appearance, it was quite fearsome indeed.

Foaly was stunned for only a moment and then he grinned, "Yes Captain Short, I still think it's funny."

Holly made another disgusted noise and shoved Foaly away as she walked off in a huff. She was about to leave the room when a large hand was placed on her, or Artemis's shoulder. She turned around and saw Butler towering over her.

"What?" She asked.

"I can't let you leave." Butler said.

"What? Why?" Holly asked.

"I can't let you leave because you have Artemis's body which makes me your bodyguard. I can't allow you to leave because I need to watch you." Butler replied.

Holly pouted, sighed, and then walked back over to the table where she sat down in a chair, arms folded across her now flat chest, "So, how are we going to fix this?" She asked, turning to Foaly and then Artemis.

Artemis walked over in Holly's body and sat across from her and then said, "Well, there should be a reversal for the device, I assume Miss Koboi is smart enough to plan for all sorts of mistakes and failures, and of course she probably would not want to stay as someone else forever."

Holly found it weird to see herself talking to her like Artemis, but she shrugged it off and said, "Ok, well, just point and shoot right?"

"Simply put, but yes." Artemis said.

Foaly walked over to the device, without touching it and said, "Uh, actually, no."

"No?" Artemis asked, "I was afraid of this."

"What?" Holly, Root, and Butler asked in unison.

Foaly frowned, "The whole thing is fried, out of juice, kaput. That is to say, we need to figure out what the beam was made of and replicate it and then harness it like Opal did, otherwise Holly and Artemis are well…stuck where they are."

"So, what was the crazy brain rearranging beam made of?" Holly asked.

"I have no idea." Foaly replied and turned to Artemis.

Artemis realized everyone was now staring at him, he had to come up with something quick, "Uh…" Uh? Uh was probably the most useless sound in the human language, it was for those who did not know the answer and needed time to stall to think. He did not use the word or more precisely sound, uh, it was an unintelligent noise, something those who were ignorant used, he did not say uh.

"Uh, is that all you can give us Artemis, what a brain trust you are." Holly remarked, still grumpy about the whole body swap thing.

"Your snide comments are quick-witted Captain, but not useful at this present moment in time." Artemis retorted and then said, "Unfortunately, I have no idea what chemical could cause such a thing. Of course this sort of scenario has come up in human movies for quite some time now, but I thought that this was only possible in the imagination, apparently not. I have never come up against anything like this, I will have to do some research, look into it, maybe survey where Opal was working on this project, see if she left any remnants behind."

"Artemis Fowl doesn't know, we're screwed." Holly said.

"We are, in this instant, in a predicament, I would say." Artemis said.

"Yeah, I noticed." Holly said.

"But I am sure I can find some sort of cure for this." Artemis finished.

"And what if you can't?" Holly asked.

"Well, then I hope you enjoy your relatively short life as a human male." Artemis said.

Holly's eyes widened and she turned to Commander Root, "I will not stay this way, I will not! If I do, it means I have less than 100 years left in me, maybe even less than 80. I am not ready to die that soon and I am not ready to live my life as a mudman."

"We're going to do all we can Captain Short, the best we can, but this may be beyond our capabilities at this time. So, you're just going to have to except it for the time being." Commander Root said.

Holly frowned, she tried to hide her fear, but to everyone in the room, it was plain on her face. She felt very tired, not physically like she had after the body swap, but mentally. All this new information rushing into her brain made her feel slightly nauseous. She wanted to go home, take a nice hot shower, and then slump over into her bed. But right now, in her current condition, she opted for skipping the shower and just crashing, for a few important reasons.


	6. Bargaining Chip

Artemis could see it in Holly's eyes, she was afraid, almost terrified. One moment she had hundreds, possibly a thousand or more years ahead of her, and the next, less than a hundred years. It was like telling a human they had less than three years to live, truly frightening.

Artemis felt a pang of guilt, which had become more common recently. This was all his fault and if there was no way to reverse the affects he had just successfully taken away Holly's life away, stolen her years from her, which made him feel guilty.

Artemis watched as her eyes went from fear, to just plain exhaustion, that kind of news can do that to someone. He had already started to feel the slight tingle of tiredness himself, of course he would do his best not to show it.

He felt uncomfortable, which was partially do to the fact that the jumpsuit was tight and chaffing, and the shoes were rough, and also to do with the fact that he was not himself.

He looked down at his body and then looked up again quickly; he did not think Captain Short would appreciate him studying her anywhere below the neck. Fortunately for him, Captain Short had not noticed his glance, which was for the best since she had a quick temper and probably would have snapped at him, maybe even lunged at him across the table. That would have been unfortunate since she was now quite a bit larger than him and she was also wearing his brand new suit and shoes, which would most definitely be damaged in the process.

Perhaps they should leave, Butler and himself. One; that slight tingle of tiredness had been progressing into full on fatigue faster than he had anticipated and two; he needed time to meditate, to think about the problem at hand, which was something he could not do with everyone breathing down his neck.

He stood up and looked around the room, "I am sorry for the trouble I have caused here today, but Butler and I must go, we will stay in contact with you and hopefully with your consent, return here tomorrow morning."

Butler rose as well from his kneeling position, preparing for anything that might occur after Artemis's statement.

Commander Root looked dumbstruck and furious at the same time, and then he said, "What makes you think we're going to let you leave? What makes you think you have the authority to say that you're leaving?"

"Well, the fact that I am a free…human being isn't the correct term anymore, is it? The face that I am a free being allows me to have the assumption that I am free to go, but from your tone, I don't think you agree." Artemis said.

"Your damn right I don't agree. You have LEP property right there, you can't leave with it." Commander Root said.'

"If you are talking about the suit and other equipment Captain Short has on her, I would gladly return it to you." Artemis said.

"I didn't mean the suit mud boy, I meant the body." Commander Root replied.

"Excuse me, but I am no one's property." Holly growled.

"Fine, then let me phrase it differently. Holly is an officer of the LEP, you have her body, which makes this a hostage situation, a kidnapping if you will. I am sure we're all familiar with that term. So, Artemis, you have once again claimed Holly, well in this case Holly's body, as a hostage, are you going to try and stop us from retrieving that body? We will do whatever is necessary which most likely means you two ending up in some cell, unconscious and in severe pain." Root said.

Artemis paled, it was true Butler was an expert at almost every combat form known to man, there were only two other people in the world better than him. For god's sake he had taken down a troll. But Artemis knew that if I came to Butler against the entire LEP police force, Butler, and himself, would go down. At least with the present resources they had, which to say the least was none.

"I understand the circumstances, what are your…terms for negotiation?" Artemis said, grinning an almost evil smile, something that didn't look right one Captain Short's face.

"A nice little cell for you and Butler, but you get to stay awake and not in pain." Commander Root said.

Artemis shook his head, "I assume you want Holly, or at least Holly's body to be comfortable, I don't know if I can make that possible while crammed in a small cell."

"Stop your bargaining Fowl, its coming off more as whining, which I can't stand, especially coming from my own body. Your argument won't work, I've been in much more uncomfortable places than a cell, besides, who cares if my body is comfortable since I won't be experiencing it, and I certainly don't care about your comfort." Holly told him.

Artemis frowned; he had no way bargaining chip, no advantage, well, except for maybe one.

"You need me don't you?" Artemis asked.

"Yes." Holly said nervously.

"You need my mind, you need me to think, to plan, to figure out a way to solve this. Well, what I need is somewhere comfortable, enough, to meditate and think over what is going on. Otherwise I may not be able to come up with a solution." Artemis said.


End file.
